housing conundrum: there needs to be a better way.

[Burmecia]

there need to be a better way

first-come-first-served was bad, then invisible timer was bad, then lotto was bad.



...it's not exactly new thought in my head. but i have this glaring suspicion that fixing/changing this system won't bring us to housing utopia.


instanced houses, yeah yeah, keep on asking for those. i wish you good luck, i really do, though I couldn't care less personally.

me? i would welcome apartment update very very happily. meanwhile i work on my hunt for large house with 0 stress, because house =//= worth the stress and anxiety and loathing.

good luck, house hunters

[Inle]

im deliberately taking it slow.
and patience or not the system as it is now is bad it may be better then the old one but its still bad.

[LilimoLimomo]

I'll agree that the current housing system still isn't great, even if it's much better than it was before.

That said, I don't think your proposal makes it much better; it simply adjusts the system so that it's weighted a bit more towards a long-term "first come, first serve". Such a system would discourage newcomers from engaging with the system, as they would feel like they are at a disadvantage relative to those who have been trying longer. Personally, I don't think that's desirable; you want a lottery like this to feel as fair as possible to everyone who applies.

Regardless, this proposed system also has the same problem as the old one: you're still at the whims of probability, meaning it's still entirely possible that even with more entries, you will never get a house. It's less likely, but still possible, and with so many players that means it will happen to some people.

At the core, the improvements to this issue shouldn't be one of deciding who most deserves to get a house; rather, it should be recognizing that the demand outweighs the supply, and doing what's possible to increase the supply to meet the demand.

[SophiaDL]

it has reached the point that the housing lotto is starting to poison my enjoyment of this game,
there need to be a better way
and yes i can already see the responses crying its better than the old system or you can always transfer to a less populated server

to the first i say: better does not mean good.
to the latter i say: so i am to abandon my RL friends im in a Fc with and all the progress in the FC? that is absolutely ridiculous.
now that the inevitable conversations are covered.
let me say it is absolutely ludacris that ive been trying every single entry period to get a house since February and without even a glimpse of hope.
and more and more frequently now im running into missions that reward housing items.
items that are rendered useless by the current system.

now im not only here to gripe i have a constructive solution to offer.

make it so that lets say every 5 times you try and fail to get a house you get an additional entery

for example on your 5th try youd be not only entry #3 but #3 and #4
and on your 10th try youd be #3,#4,and #5
and every 5 tries you get another entry till you finally get a house
thus raising the odds for those who have been trying for a while.

well that's my suggestion take it or leave it.

but i talked to people who have literally been trying for over a year or 2 to get a house and there really is not a legitimate excuse for that.
there needs to be a better way.

Your idea is literally the entire opposite of fair, why do you deserve more chances than someone who has just started to bid on houses ? Also if your friends have been trying for a year or two for a small house, they are doing it wrong.

[Jojoya]

to the latter i say: so i am to abandon my RL friends im in a Fc with and all the progress in the FC? that is absolutely ridiculous.

Moving to a new data center does not mean you're abandoning your RL friends. RL friends will always have ways to be in contact with you whether you're logged into the game or not.

If they stop playing with you just because you change data centers, then likely they weren't your friends in the first place. They were simply people you know.

As for progress in a FC... time to ditch a terrible FC that forces you to progress in it. A FC should be a casual social circle, not a job that you have to work hard at to get a promotion. The FC I'm in still has many former members active in our Discord and joining us for FC events.

Data center travel does not wall people off. It helps bring them together.

Yes, the housing system is need of major improvements. Your suggestion doesn't really solve anything considering all those other failed bidders are going to get those increased entries along with you - and the first time bidder with only one entry will likely end up the winner. How bitter are you going to feel when that happens.

What does the housing system need? It needs SE to fix the supply so every player can get the house of their choice without being forced to compete with others. Players in other MMORPGs don't have to put up with this in their housing. Why should we have to?

[Ranaku]

snip

I am with OP on that part tho, switching servers isn't the solution. If you do that you just trade one part of the game (FC with irl friends) for another part of the game. (Housing)

When it comes to the housing system, it is a matter of prestige tho. Especially for the asian players. JP is happy with the system and as long as this is the case SE will not make major changes because we are not their native playerbase. It is the same reason why we will never see region travel, because JP absolutely hates the idea of having to deal with the NA culture. If you think for a moment that they go against their own peoples wishes then you are at best delusional.

So housing will always be a matter of prestige when it comes to the wards, maybe tho they will please the western audience with some limited instanced housing on the island or the new world. Island Sanctuary looked like a dip into the idea of instanced housing, we will see where it leads.

[SophiaDL]

I am with OP on that part tho, switching servers isn't the solution. If you do that you just trade one part of the game (FC with irl friends) for another part of the game. (Housing)

When it comes to the housing system, it is a matter of prestige tho. Especially for the asian players. JP is happy with the system and as long as this is the case SE will not make major changes because we are not their native playerbase. It is the same reason why we will never see region travel, because JP absolutely hates the idea of having to deal with the NA culture. If you think for a moment that they go against their own peoples wishes then you are at best delusional.

So housing will always be a matter of prestige when it comes to the wards, maybe tho they will please the western audience with some limited instanced housing on the island or the new world. Island Sanctuary looked like a dip into the idea of instanced housing, we will see where it leads.

That's what I've been saying for quite a while, and I got attacked for it multiple times, for a lot of people (me included), housing is prestige, especially select "popular" plots, on JP it's a normal thing, but on EU/NA it's like being the big bad evil that doesnt want people to have houses

[Jojoya]

I am with OP on that part tho, switching servers isn't the solution. If you do that you just trade one part of the game (FC with irl friends) for another part of the game. (Housing)

When it comes to the housing system, it is a matter of prestige tho. Especially for the asian players. JP is happy with the system and as long as this is the case SE will not make major changes because we are not their native playerbase. It is the same reason why we will never see region travel, because JP absolutely hates the idea of having to deal with the NA culture. If you think for a moment that they go against their own peoples wishes then you are at best delusional.

So housing will always be a matter of prestige when it comes to the wards, maybe tho they will please the western audience with some limited instanced housing on the island or the new world. Island Sanctuary looked like a dip into the idea of instanced housing, we will see where it leads.

Then SE should double down up the prestige side of the game and be very specific in telling Western audiences what they're getting into. They need to stop adding wards and new housing districts so players are stuck fighting over what few houses are there. Adding more just lowers the presumed prestige of it. No reason to worry about supply as the player base grows since it's a prestige thing and they do not want to allow everyone who wants a house to have one.

To me, it's idiocy to base prestige on RNG luck over effort and merit.

It seems bizarre that SE decided housing should be the prestige system for the game but if JP is different then JP is different.

That's what I've been saying for quite a while, and I got attacked for it multiple times, for a lot of people (me included), housing is prestige, especially select "popular" plots, on JP it's a normal thing, but on EU/NA it's like being the big bad evil that doesnt want people to have houses

Probably because NA and EU see enough of the homeless problem in the real world and don't want to bring that into the games they play.

Part of the attraction of role-playing games is wish fulfillment and getting things that you can't have in real life. Remove the wish fulfillment and there's suddenly a lot less reason to play for many people.

How ironic that the game revolves around the player being a celebrated Warrior of Light who has saved the world yet that world singing the Warrior's praises doesn't give enough of a damn about them to help them get a decent house to live in. I wonder if that's how JP treats its real life heroes as well.

[Ranaku]

snip

Adding more wards actually doesn't lower the prestige of a plot. The game steadily grows (for the better or worse but it still grows). So it is logical to double the wards when the games population doubles, the prestige worth of a plot stays the same that way.

What SE really needs to combat is some fellas owning entire wards or like 10 houses and maybe people who aren't using their houses. I have seen SO SO many houses that are barren, nothing inside at all for months. Dunno why some people buy houses and then ignore them and leave them as a barren husk of what could be.

[Shinkuno]

That's what I've been saying for quite a while, and I got attacked for it multiple times, for a lot of people (me included), housing is prestige, especially select "popular" plots, on JP it's a normal thing, but on EU/NA it's like being the big bad evil that doesnt want people to have houses

For someone that subs to keep their house, you sure like to gatekeep it. Wouldnt it be nice if everyone could get a house whenever they want? Then people like you could actually unsub instead of being chained to their subscription.